African libraries at higher learning and research institutions have undergone a lot of transformation with the advent of the internet. The structural adjustment programmes introduced by the Bretton Wood institutions that emphasised cost sharing in higher education and reduced spending by governments on education resulted in the near collapse of African libraries since most could no longer afford to subscribe to journals due to reduced grant funding for institutions and subsequent cost cutting measures at these institutions (Banya & Elu, 2001; Teffera & Altbach, 2004). In the 1990s it became imperative that drastic measures needed to be taken in order to reverse the deteriorating situation in which most African institutions were becoming cut off from current research and thinking from elsewhere. Several initiatives to increase the availability of scholarly information in Africa emerged, mostly driven by donors and non-governmental / non-profit institutions.